AVATAR: The Earth Soldier
by words-with-dragons
Summary: Ila's fears about her brother fighting on the front lines against an army of bloodbenders soon becomes the least of her worries when she discovers she's the Avatar. But when even Avatar Korra couldn't defeat the army's leader, Hikeiko, how much of a chance does she actually have of ending the war? One thing's for sure, no one will return home the same, if they come home at all. OCs
1. The Brave Soldier Boy

**AVATAR: The Earth Soldier**

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BOOK ONE: THE FIRE SOLDIER

_CHAPTER ONE: The Brave Soldier Boy_

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Screaming - limbs twisting, necks being snapped with a flick of the wrist. Veins bulging, the half-moon glowing like a ghost in the sky. Waves soaked the blood-stained shores. So, so much blood.

And that was only the beginning.

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**_Earth. Fire. Air. Water._**

**_Years ago, the world lived in harmony.  
Everything changed when the bloodbenders attacked. Avatar Korra fell to them in a battle. The war has raged on.  
Nothing can stop the bloodbending soldiers from killing people, helpless against the bending, or from forcing others to do their bidding.  
Their leader, __Hikeiko, is the strongest of them all. She has never been defeated by another bender, not even once._**

**___My mother says the only one who can restore balance to the world is the Avatar.  
I doubt that; who can win against those who can completely control you?  
Can even the Avatar save the world?  
Or will there be a world worth saving at all?_**

**___No one ever seems to have an answer.  
So it seems I'll have to find my own._**

* * *

Her very first memory is of her brother, Reiro.

She's three or four years old, with dirty feet as they walked in the mud after a fresh rain on their way home. The mud is slippery and her feet slide in the muck. "That's what you get for not wearing shoes," Reiro scolded her, but only halfheartedly; his brown eyes were full of amusement.

"Earthbenders don't wear shoes," she told him. She tried to kick some mud at him, but ended up sliding off balance. Reiro steadied her and holds her wet, muddy hand so it doesn't happen again. The dirty substance coats their pale fingers.

"Earthbenders have to wear shoes sometimes, and mama will be mad at you for getting so dirty, badgermole."

Dang his eight year old logic, and the silly nickname he had bestowed on her. She remembered giving him a gentle shove, and he gave one back. She remembered landing in the mud with a plop, and pulling him down with her. She remembered the rain coming again, lashing down on their heads and feeling pleasant after the hotness of the summer day. She remembered throwing mud pies at him and him earthbending a little at her. He had just started his training, and wouldn't even think of metalbending for another six years.

But most of all she remembered the sound of his laugh and the way he carried her home because she was half falling asleep. His shirt smelt like rain, and dirt. It's funny how certain things stick with you, forever.

His shirt smelt the same as she pressed herself against him, over ten years later. "Don't go," she murmured, her voice thick with tears. Reiro placed his head on top of hers, something she had gotten used to ever since she had accepted he would forever be taller than her. She tightened her grip around his torso, around the metal armor that felt so unfamiliar and wrong. "Please don't go."

"You know I can't do that, badgermole." The nickname that was reserved only for her since that day made her nearly break right then and there. She gripped the back of his breastplate with white fingers.

"Then at least promise me you'll come back," she whispered, looking up at him. He had the same nose Ila did, large and pointy, and they had the same curly brown hair, pale skin and brown eyes. But his smile was entirely different than hers, largely for the fact he smiled a lot more often than she did.

"Ila..." his voice cracked. She used to make fun of him when it happened when he was younger, still growing up. "Ila, you know I can't do that either." He put a finger under Ila's chin and forced her to raise her head higher. "I want you to promise something for me, alright?"

Ila gave a slight jerk of her head, the smallest of nods. "Alright."

"Promise you'll be okay, no matter what happens to me." Ila's sadness turns to anger and her eyes flashed, but as she opened her mouth she could see there were tears in his eyes too, and her anger deflated.

How could he ask her to do that? When her whole life, he's been the one that's always been _there. _Her best friend, brother. She's never lived without him. She doesn't think she can, and she don't want to try. "Reiro..." A lump formed in Ila's throat. "I - I..."

"One last thing for me," he said, clutching her hands tightly in his. _A last request, _her brain faintly registered. No... "Please, badgermole. For me, Ila."

She could never refuse him anything. "Alright, I will." He reached up to wipe her eyes gently with a finger, and she was just glad he was never good at detecting when people were lying. Everyone lies, it seems.

No one ever tells you forever isn't real, after all.

Ila curled in on herself as he got in the vehicle with the other soldiers - young, brave boys just like him - and shoved off the hand her mother Anju tried to put on my shoulder. "I just want to be alone," she choked out, once the army truck had faded, leaving a trail of dust behind.

Her mother nodded, looking hurt, but let her leave. She needed to do something. A distraction. It didn't matter what, but she needed something to get rid of the way her heart was aching. Was it even possible to miss someone after only a few minutes? Was this what the next few months - years maybe, would feel like? Spirits, the world was cruel.

She didn't knock as she barged into a small shack made of rock on the outskirts of the village. "Ila?" a voice called out. She slammed the door made of rock a little more forcefully than she should have, and cracks appeared in it. She spared it a small wince. "Ila?"

An old man hobbled into the room, slouching and stooped low. His stance was still firm, unmoveable, as an earthbender's always should be. There was only a few strands of white hair on his head, but hair sprouted out around his ears, in sharp contrast to his black skin. His chin was still as prominent as ever, and wrinkles lined his face. He licked his chapped lips for a few seconds, simply staring at Ila before speaking. "Why in Great King Bumi's name are you slamming my door, you devil child?!"

He walked over to his door and dug his hands into it. The earth crawled onto his fingers and with two, quick movements, the cracks faded. Then he turned back to him, regarding me with his green eyes and a sour expression.

"Reiro... he left, Sheil," Ila said tonelessly. It was hard to get the words out. Sheil's face melted into one of vague sadness. He began to sat down and earth sprang up to make a chair for him. He put his knobbly hand on his large chin.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Ila," he said slowly. His usual harsh tone he used to yell at them during training sessions was gone, and she didn't like it. Couldn't just one thing stay the same? "Your brother's a good fighter. He'll be alright."

"They're bloodbenders," Ila moaned, eyes stinging. No, she refused to cry in front of her Sifu. "What chance does he really stand? Even the _Avatar _couldn't defeat them!"

"Avatar Korra was reaching the end of her life," Sheil said reasonably. "Ila, the best thing for you to do is to continue your training and to help out fortifying the village. And to help your mother."

"I - I don't know how to do those things without him," Ila admitted. "He's always been there, Sheil. Always, since the day I was born - which is pretty unlucky, because that's when Avatar Korra died for Spirits' sake and - I... I don't know. He's my brother. How am I supposed to..." she trailed off. "Do anything?"

Sheil sighed heavily, standing up and clapping a hand on her shoulder. "Figure it out like you figured earthbending out, one-"

"-step at a time," Ila echoed, letting out a sigh. "I know, I know." Ila bit down on her lip, casting Sheil a look. He had been in the army, with her grandfather and her father. He knew what Reiro was getting himself into. Maybe, if the old man was capable of it, he could offer some solid comfort. "Sheil, what's going to happen to my brother?"

Sheil looked at her, his brow furrowed, only adding to his layers of creases. "Training, first. Then, after a week or two, depending on the skill of the soldier - and Reiro's gonna be high up there, trust me - they'll be assigned to a legion, and on a smaller scale, their personal squad. I was with five other fellows, myself." His eyes crinkled, but there was pain there too.

"What happened to the others in your squad?" Ila asked, dreading the answer. Thankfully, Sheil doesn't say anything, but his silence - it seems to suffocate her - is answer enough: they didn't make it.

* * *

Ila couldn't fall asleep that night, which isn't a surprise really. Moonlight filters in through the curtain of her window, and she hated it. She hated the moon, and the power it gave the bloodbenders. She could make out, in the semi-darkness, the outline of her mother Anju in the bed across the room. Half the bed is empty, unfilled; old habits die hard, Ila supposed, even after ten years.

Would she lose her brother the same way she lost her father? She felt her eyes well up, and found herself humming an old lullaby her father had sung to her when she was very young. The lullaby was from the Fire Nation, passed down through a few generations. Her father's grandfather had been from Fire Nation descent and lived in the colonies in the Earth Kingdom. Her great-grandmother had been a young girl from the Southern Water Tribe, and had immigrated to Republic City, that Avatar Aang had founded.

It seemed the world couldn't help but throw itself into another war so soon after one had ended. At least the Avatar would always have a purpose, she figured bitterly. Where was the Avatar, she wondered. Had they already been killed by bloodbenders, and been reincarnated? Or were they cowards, or too young to know?

Ila shook her head, wanting to get rid of those unpleasant thoughts. It didn't matter. She wrapped her arms around her knees, in a kind of hug, and hummed to herself. She could even remember the words of the lullaby.

_Leaves from the vine, falling so slow, _she thought, not wanting to wake her mother, if Anju was asleep at all. Ila wouldn't blame her if she wasn't. _Like tiny, fragile shells, drifting in the foam. Little soldier boy, come marching home. _Her shoulders shook. _Brave soldier boy, comes marching home. _She wiped her eyes. It was a stupid lullaby, really. But if it made her brother come home, safe and sound, she would sing it until she couldn't anymore.

Ila put her head in her hands. She needed to pull herself together and figure out a plan. She couldn't just sit around here and be useless. Fortifying the town would definitely help, and training was important, but there must be more she could do, right?

One step at a time. She removed her arms and planted her bare, dirty feet on their home's floor of earth. She dug her heels into it, and vowed that she would get her brother back, no matter what the bloodbenders threw at her.

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**A/N: So I'm starting an OC-centric story, obviously. There will be mentions of characters from the original series - Kai and Jinora's granddaughter will have a part to play, for example. **

**Ila's great-grandmother is not Katara, just to clear that up. **

******And tell me what you liked and didn't like, or what I can improve on, I'd love to hear it! :) The story's still in the works, and I'm not sure it'll be a trilogy, but I can assure you it's gonna be awesome.**


	2. The Invasion Part I: Blood Lust

**AVATAR: The Earth Soldier**

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BOOK ONE: The Fire Soldier

_CHAPTER TWO: The Invasion_

_Part I: Blood Lust_

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Nidhug poked his bill into Ila's window, long after she had finally given into how tired she was, and roused her from her sleep with a big, affection lick. Ila pushed the duckbill away. Stupid platypus-bear. "Stop it Nidhug," she moaned. Nidhug whimpered and despite the fact she wanted to stay in bed and possibly never get up, she sat up and pet Nidhug's brow.

She put her hands on either side of his head. "You miss Reiro too, eh buddy?" She pinched his chubby cheeks; Nidhug shook himself free of her grasp, pulling his wide head out of the window. He had been the runt of a litter, abandoned by his mother when she had found him in the woods one day, and begged Anju to let her keep him. Her mother had reluctantly agreed, but soon the platypus-bear had wormed his way into all of their hearts. Many happy afternoons had been spent with Reiro playing fetch with Nidhug.

Ila cast a look over the room to find her mother's bed, unsurprisingly, empty. It usually was in the mornings. Anju was the one who collected the pigchickens' eggs, and Ila was the one who delivered them, riding Nidhug. He was smaller than most of his kind, about the size of a polar-bear-dog.

Ila let out a yawn before she took off her pajamas, a simple pair of baggy pants and a tank top, and got dressed. A fresh sleeveless green top, tan pants that clung to her thighs and loosened around her shins, and sandals that were easy to slip-off. There was no need to do anything about her hair, for although it was very curly, it was short, ending just below her ears. Ila grabbed an apple on the way out and bit into it. The juice felt good on her dry throat.

"Ready for another day's work?" Ila asked, half-smiling at how Nidhug tilted his head curiously at her. Then his beaver tail pounded the dirt in an excited form of wagging. She pulled herself onto the saddle on his back, and got herself in securely by planting her feet in the stirrup, hands closing lightly on the reins. The saddle was simple, with a small storage bag along Nidhug's side. Opening the flap, Ila checked that the pigchicken eggs were indeed inside, like they were most mornings. "Let's go buddy." She jostled the reins and Nidhug took off down the street.

First stop was Sheil's house. This time, she opened the door gently and placed his regular order of two eggs in a small sack on the table. There was no need to wake him if she could help it - it was too early for a lecture, thank you very much.

The rest of the deliveries were further down town. Luckily, it seemed the villagers had realized that she wasn't in the mood for talking and refrained from the idle chit-chat they usually engaged in with her.

By mid-morning, once the deliveries were done, Ila headed down to the rim of the village. Other people were there - mostly younger than her by a few years, or middle-aged men and women. Walls of rock were being torn down and remade, a major part of how the town was fortified. Luckily, their town, Jaya, wasn't near any prominent bloodbender sites or conquered towns, far enough into the Earth Kingdom and not near any water.

Like water really made a difference.

Ila soon joined a pair of earthbender twins and together they created a wide trench with the help of some others. Then, they raised a new section of a wall. The metalbenders moved onto it to make the wall stronger, sifting the shiny metal to their will.

Ila had studied the basics of metalbending under Sheil's guidance, but struggled with it. The most she had ever been able to bend with a spoon, which she thought was pretty pathetic. Certain benders had a flair for it, and others were never able to do it all - Ila had accepted that she would probably only ever be in the latter.

Beads of sweat trailed uncomfortably down her neck, and Ila was relieved when a break was finally called. Lunch, and a cold glass of lychee juice sounded very good right now.

"Nidhug!" she called. The platypus-bear often curled up somewhere in the shade to take a nap, or played around the nearby trees while she worked. She heard a huge cracking noise from a tree close by and approached it. The branch snapped, falling to the ground. Nidhug toppled and tumbled onto his back. He shook his head, disorientated, and Ila chuckled softly. "Come on you idiot," she said fondly, "let's head home."

Anju was sitting on the steps of their porch when they arrived, stripping the husk of some corn and depositing the leafy coverings in a basket beside her. "Hard at work, I'm sure?" Anju asked, looking at her daughter cautiously. There were bags under Ila's eyes, but she guessed that she had them as well.

"Of course," Ila replied. "I'm going to go in and make some lunch." She paused in the doorway and looked back. "Do you want me to make you something?"

Anju gave her a strained smile. "No, no I'm alright."

Ila let the door close behind her, wondering how she and her mother had come to this. She supposed it was because of her father's death. She had been a daddy's girl, through and through. Reiro, who had obviously been older when their father hadn't come back from fighting, had often told her that she had a lot of him in her. Did she remind her mother of her father? Was that why a rift had been put up between them? Why Reiro had been not only her brother and best friend, but also almost a surrogate parent she would confide in? When was the last time she and her mother had had a conversation that lasted for more than a few minutes without Reiro as the buffer?

Ila sighed. Dwelling on the past was useless, she knew. The present was what mattered, not what ifs of the past and future.

She fumbled the bowl in her hands but managed to keep it from hitting the floor. Some stew was in order and Nidhug would love to lick the bowl clean once she was done with it.

When Anju entered the house roughly an hour later, Ila and Nidhug were already gone (training with Sheil, Anju decided) she found a bowl of stew on the table waiting for her, and her smile reached her eyes.

* * *

Days passed. Ila didn't know how exactly, and being without Reiro was strange, but soon over two weeks were gone. If Sheil's prediction about Reiro was correct, he had officially be in the army now. Ila ignored that thought; instead, she focused on fortifying Jaya, working on her earthbending with Sheil, taking care of Nidhug, and by extension and habit, her mother.

The skill of metalbending still evaded her, even as Sheil tried to do his best to teach her. She hadn't seen the old man since their fight the day before - with two stubborn frustrated earthbenders a fight was inevitable.

"Stupid metal," Ila hissed and stomped her foot. Pebbles bounced. Nidhug whined at her. She looked down at the platypus-bear. "I'm fine, buddy," she said, petting his head.

She pulled herself onto the saddle with the intention of going home (it was getting dark), when she saw a few earthbenders running past her, with battle helmets on. Her brow furrowed. "What's going on?" she called out.

"Bloodbender soldiers!" one of them shouted.

Her throat constricted. Spirits, she had assumed Jaya would have a few more years before the war was brought to them... She snapped the reins of the saddle, not even bothering to properly strap herself in. "Nidhug, let's go!" He pounded down the streets, her clutching the reins with white knuckles, and they skidded to a halt outside her home.

Ila rushed inside, where Anju was. "Mom, bloodbenders are coming," she said shortly, not even looking at her mother as she pulled on the few pieces of armor she had. The helmet - a hard oval with the Earth Kingdom colours, a breastplate and plates that covered her lower arms and thighs, ending below the knees.

Ila went to go out the door when Anju's hand grabbed her wrist, keeping her in place. Ila turned around, annoyed and expecting her mother to beg her not to go, but her features softened at the sight of Anju's worried eyes. "Be safe Ila," Anju said gently.

Ila stepped forwards and hugged her, something that they hadn't done for a long time. "I will be," Ila promised. Anju's eyes crinkled, and the lines of her face seemed to fade.

"Good."

Almost half of Jaya's population was standing near the rock walls. Ila found Sheil among them and stood next to him. "What's the situation so far?" she whispered.

"A scout reported at least two troops, forty soldiers apiece. The moon is almost full tonight. I think..." the old man trailed off. Ila swallowed hard; there wasn't much chance of winning.

Ila rolled her shoulders, stretching out her muscles, and then got into an earthbending stance after slipping out of her sandals. "I think we're going to give them a hard time," she said, trying to inject confidence into her voice. Sheil half-smiled.

"With me here, oh yeah," he said jokingly. Ila snorted. "And your stance is wrong, your feet aren't close enough." Ila adjusted her feet accordingly and looked up at her Sifu, who nodded. "It'll have to do."

She rolled her eyes. Forever hard to please, he was.

"We'll be seeing some action in a few minutes!" an earthbender announced. Ila's brown eyes roamed the crowd; there were lots of earthbenders, but also a good group of nonbenders with their own swords and various weapons. Briefly, she wondered who would still be here when the battle was over.

Then the rock wall closest her exploded, crumbling down to the ground, and Ila got her first real look at bloodbenders. The armor was sleek and simple, scarlet coloured and their emblem was a simple white circle with a black pupil. A symbol of Hikeiko, perhaps? Ila had heard the leader only had one eye, but there was so much war propaganda she wasn't sure what to believe.

The soldiers surged forwards. Ila quickly moved her hands and stooped to the ground. The rock shifted to her will, jutting out and making the earth below the soldiers hard to walk out; some boulders flew their way as a followup move. Earthbending from other benders knocked the first row of soldiers; some of them were caged in by rock walls, courtesy of Sheil.

Arrows nailed bloodbenders in the head. Nidhug swiped a soldier to the side, as did some of the other, larger animals and pets of the townspeople. A bloodbender went down with a sword in their side. Rocks flew everywhere, the ground moulded to Ila's feet as she sought to regain her bearings amid the chaos.

Then the bloodbending began. Ila watched in horror as one of the villager's, a nonbender, arm with completely torn off their body, their scream pierced the air and chilled her to the bone. She waved her hand a boulder hit the bloodbender who had done it, and waved her other hand, forming a temporary rock wall around the injured villager.

Still reeling from the image, Ila rolled to the side to avoid a large rock that had been deflected by one of the bloodbender's water whip and as she sprang up to her feet, earth from her soles whirled around and smacked a bloodbender in the face.

Ila had only a moment to catch her breath before she saw the bloodbender raise their hand and felt her limbs go numb. Crap.

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**Action scenes are not my strength, I'm afraid, so if anyone has pointers on to write them, let me know! :)**

**And thank you for your reviews, favourites and follows - you guys are _awesome. _I hope you enjoyed chapter two! (Writing Nidhug was so much fun.) Have a great day.  
**


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